Last year in the third month of Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine,  Civil Network OPORA decided to carry out a survey of Ukrainian media space.

At that time, it became clear that the Ukrainian media space had undergone drastic changes: national TV channels were consolidated into United News telethon, while social media turned into a popular place for minute-by-minute monitoring of air-raid alert warnings, Russian shelling and latest developments on the frontline.

In the conditions of an active phase of physical and information warfare, it is important that the state government and civil society should get an understanding of media consumption habits of Ukrainians in order to convey the necessary messages to them as quickly and efficiently as possible. According to 2022 survey results, Ukrainians prefer using social media (in most cases – Telegram) to receive news. At the same time, Ukrainians almost completely ignore radio stations and print media, but they began to make more active use of television, which had been steadily losing popularity in prior years.

A year later, OPORA decided to study the effect of prolonged power and communication outage, endless flow of news and Russia’s continued attempts to interfere in our information space on media consumption habits of Ukrainians. So we carried out a new survey as a follow-up to 2022 research and asked the respondents three key questions:

  • through which channels do they receive information;
  • what social media platforms do they use most frequently;
  • what sources of information do they trust most.

The research was conducted during the period from May 11 to June 12, 2023. A total of 2,013 adult respondents living in the territories under the control of Ukrainian government were interviewed. For more information about survey results, please follow the link.

Where do Ukrainians get their news?

Social media continue to enjoy the greatest popularity among Ukrainians: 77.9% of respondents use them as a source of information (in 2022 it was about the same – 76.6%, prior to full-scale invasion – 63%).

As was to be expected, young people are the most active social media users (95.8%). It is worth noting that social media platforms have become somewhat more popular among the respondents aged 40-49 (increase in popularity to 87%) and those aged 70+ (increase to 36.5%).

For the most part, Ukrainians give preference to social media platforms because of their user-friendliness and content speed: after all, many people simply don’t have time to watch half-hour’s news broadcasts or wait for news spots on the radio. Furthermore, social network services offer more flexible access to information that is of interest to a particular user. It should also be understood that many Ukrainian settlements still experience lack of stable communication, TV and radio signal, and sometimes even power shortage. Despite that, the Internet and social media continue to be the more accessible sources of most up-to-date information.

Sources of information used by respondents to follow the news in the past two months, %

Multiple answers allowed

 

2022

2023

Social media

(Viber, Telegram, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)

76.6

77.9

Television

66.7

62.5

Internet resources other than social media

61.2

57.7

Radio

28.4

33.7

Print media

15.7

17.8

Over the past year, television has lost some of its popularity with Ukrainians: in 2022, 66.7% of respondents were using TV as the main source of information, in 2023 – 62.5%. The largest decline in popularity was observed in the “under 40” age group: over the past year, 11% of respondents under 40 years of age have stopped watching TV news.

It is telling that television has been losing popularity equally rapidly among both men and women in urban and rural areas almost all over Ukraine, except for eastern regions where the level of TV usage has slightly increased probably due to frequent Internet outages in these oblasts.

One of the reasons why television is losing its popularity is that Ukrainian media space has been monopolized by the United News telethon. Some people are not happy about inability to choose an alternative TV channel that provides more interesting information from their perspective. At the same time, we shouldn’t forget that although television is losing its leading position in media space compared to last year, in 2021 only 46% of respondents were using TV as the main source of news.

In the past year, the level of usage of Internet resources (other than social media) for news consumption purposes has also decreased: in 2022, 61.2% of respondents received news from this source, and in 2023 – only 57.7%.

It is interesting that the Internet resources and other online platforms have gained popularity among the young audience (respondents aged 18-29) in the past year: increase in usage rate from 64.3% to 73.8%. At the same time, the level of usage of Internet resources in other age groups has decreased by an average of 5-10%. This is probably due to the fact that the older Internet users prefer receiving the news from social network services, while young people are more interested in reading the articles of specific online media.

One of the most interesting findings of our 2023 research is that Ukrainians began to listen the radio far more often compared to previous year. In 2022, only 28.4% of respondents were using the radio as a source of news, and in 2023 radio usage rate increased to 33.7%.

All age groups began to listen to the radio on a more frequent basis, including young people at the ages from 18 to 29. The largest increase in usage rate was observed among respondents belonging to 30-39 age group: in 2022, 25.9% of them listened to the radio, in 2023 – 34.6%.

Region-wise, the largest increase in radio usage rate was recorded in the eastern regions of Ukraine: from 17.2% to 29.3%. This is probably due to decreasing access to other means of communication and frequent power outages resulting from  Russian shelling.

Radio also gained popularity among urban residents, but the largest increase in usage rate was observed in rural areas (from 28.2% in 2022 to 37.2% in 2023).

In the past year, Ukrainians began to read print media more often: in 2022, 15.7% of respondents were using this source of information, and in 2023 – 17.8%. The largest increase in usage rate was observed in 40-49 age group: from 8.1% in 2022 to 16.8% in 2023.

More and more residents of southern and eastern oblasts of Ukraine are giving preference to reading the news in print media, especially those living in rural areas. This is probably due to the lack of stable communication and electricity supply in these regions.

What social media platforms do Ukrainians use?

The list of the most popular social media platforms hasn’t changed since last year: the majority of Ukrainians continue using Telegram (71.3%), YouTube (66.2%) and Facebook (55%). About a half of respondents consume news on Viber, 29.5% – on Instagram, 25.1% – on TikTok, 8.3% – on Twitter.

Social media platforms used by respondents to follow the news in the past two months, %

Multiple answers allowed

 

2022

2023

Telegram

65.7

71.3

YouTube

61.2

66.2

Facebook

57.8

55.0

Viber

48.0

50.0

Instagram

29.1

29.5

TikTok

19.5

25.1

Twitter

8.9

8.3

Other

2.0

0.8

Don’t know

2.4

1.4

Telegram achieved small audience gains compared to previous year: in 2022, 65.7% of respondents were using this messenger to receive news, while in 2023 the usage rate increased by 5.6%. It is telling that the largest audience gains were achieved thanks to people aged 50 and over: in this age group, the level of news consumption on Telegram increased by 11-13%.

Telegram continues to be the number one choice for women (76.1%). Region-wise, the largest increase in Telegram usage rate was observed in southern and eastern oblasts of Ukraine – up by 8% in both cases. Indeed, this messenger is the most convenient tool for consuming news compared to other social media: unlike Facebook and Instagram, Telegram allows its users to choose the news channels that are of interest to them, and there are more news channels in Telegram than in other messengers.

YouTube audience also increased by 5% compared to previous year: in 2022, 61.2% of respondents were using this social media platform, in 2023 – 66.2%. This year, all age groups began to make more active use of YouTube for news consumption purposes, but the largest increase in usage rate (up by 11%) was observed in 70+ age group. YouTube is more popular among men (73.2%) rather than women. Over the past year, this media platform achieved large audience gains in rural areas (increase from 50.7% to 61.9%).

Facebook lost some of its popularity over the past year: in 2022, 57.8% of respondents were consuming news on this media platform, while in 2023 – 55%. At the same time, it should be noted that the largest decline in Facebook’s popularity was observed in the young audiences (down by 8.5%), while the older people began to use this platform more often (usage rate in age group 70+ increased by almost 6%). Region-wise, the largest decrease in Facebook usage rate was observed in eastern (down by 7%) and western (down by 5%) regions of Ukraine.

Viber increased its audience by 2% over the past year: in 2022, 48% of respondents were using Viber to receive news, in 2023 – 50%. At the same time, a significant part of young audience stopped using Viber (8% decrease in usage rate compared to previous year), while the older people began to use this messenger far more often: usage rate in age group 70+ increased by 24.8% compared to previous year.

In the past year, Viber lost some of its popularity with men (3% decrease) but became somewhat more popular among women (6% increase).

The level of news consumption on Instagram hasn’t changed over the past year: 29% of respondents have been using this media platform to receive news both in 2022 and 2023. As in the previous year, women are making more active use of Instagram for news consumption purposes compared to men (35.5% and 22.6% correspondingly). Region-wise, Instagram is used by about one-third of the respondents living in all regions of Ukraine both in rural and urban areas.

TikTok achieved the largest audience gains over the past year: in 2022, 19.5% of respondents were using this messenger to receive news, while in 2023 – 25.1%. The largest increase in TikTok usage rate was observed in 30-50 age group (8.5% increase compared to previous year) and 70+ age group (8.9% increase). Region-wise, TikTok achieved audience gains in all oblasts of Ukraine, except for the eastern region where the usage rate decreased from 23.4% to 21.1%. Both men and women began to use TikTok for news consumption purposes more often, but the increase in popularity among the female audience is more noticeable (up by 8.5%).

Over the past year, Twitter managed to retain popularity among those who receive news from this social media: in 2022, 8.9% of respondents were consuming news on Twitter, in 2023 – 8.3%. Young people began to use Twitter more often compared to previous year (increase in usage rate from 10.7% to 12.0%), and the same goes for 60-69 age group (increase from 8.4% to 10.4%). Twitter lost some of its popularity in rural areas: in 2022, 8.6% of Ukrainian villagers were using this media platform to receive news, while in 2023 – only 4.7%.

Confidence in sources of information

In 2023, social media almost caught up with television in terms of credibility. Television still enjoys the highest level of confidence among the respondents (61.1%), while social media have credibility with 60% of respondents. Internet resources other than social media have lost some credibility with the respondents compared to previous year: 45.1% in 2023. A slightly smaller number of Ukrainians have confidence in radio (41%) and print media (30.3%), although the level of trust in these media platforms has increased in comparison to last year. Almost 8% of respondents don’t trust any sources of information.

Sources of information that have credibility with respondents, %

Multiple answers allowed

 

2022

2023

Television

60.5

61.1

Social media

(Viber, Telegram, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)

53.9

60.0

Internet

(excluding social media)

48.8

45.1

Radio

34.3

41.0

Print media

23.0

30.3

Don’t trust any of these sources

5.2

7.7

Don’t know

2.4

2.0

Social media gained the confidence of Ukrainians in 2023: 60% of respondents have trust in social networks compared to 53.9% in 2022. Social media enjoy the highest level of credibility with 18-49 age group, while the lowest level of confidence in social networks is observed  among the older respondents. Urbanites have more trust in social media compared to villagers, but the overall level of public confidence in social networks has increased in both rural and urban areas.

The level of public confidence in television has hardly changed over the past year: in 2022, 60.5% of respondents had trust in TV news, while in 2023 – 61.1%. The lowest level of confidence in television is observed among the young respondents (52.7%), although they put more trust in TV news compared to previous year. Television enjoys the highest level of credibility with the respondents aged 70+ (although they put less trust in TV news compared to previous year). Television gained the confidence of residents of eastern and southern Ukraine to a small degree. By tradition, women have more trust in television than men (63.8% and 57.8% correspondingly).

Internet resources other than social media lost some credibility with the users compared to previous year: in 2022, 48.8% of respondents had trust in online media news, while in 2023 – 45.1%. The level of trust in internet resources has declined in all age groups, but the most dramatic decline of confidence is observed in age group 70+ (from 31.7% to 19.4%). Region-wise, the largest decrease in the level of trust in internet resources is observed in western Ukraine (from 51% to 42%).

Ukrainians began to put more trust in radio and print media over the past year: public confidence in radio stations increased by 6.7% (from 34.3 to 41%),  public confidence in print media – by 7.3% (from 23% to 30.3%). The largest increase in the level of trust in radio is observed in the young and middle-aged audiences (up by 15%), while the largest decline of confidence was recorded in 70+ age group (down by 4%). At the same time, print media have gained the confidence of all age groups.

Not least important is the increasing number of respondents that don’t trust any sources of information: 7.7% in 2023 compared to 5.7% in 2022. When it comes to age differences, 7% of young people and more than 9% of older people don’t trust any news sources. Region-wise, the highest level of distrust in all sources of information is observed in southern oblasts of Ukraine (10.4%). The percentage of men that don’t trust any sources of information is higher than that of women (8.8% and 6.7% correspondingly).

Digital nation: challenges of online news consumption

The results of 2023 research confirmed the last year’s trend: online news consumption is coming to the fore, while the majority of traditional media are losing popularity with Ukrainians. This poses a major challenge to Ukrainian government and civil society since our country is going through  an active phase of information warfare, which is taking place in the online space. Information war manifests itself in the conduct of large-scale psychological operations and disinformation campaigns, as well as the widespread use of automated accounts to influence public opinion.

Ukrainian authorities are responding to these challenges with some success, but at the same time they are resorting to monopolization of media space, which undermines public confidence and arouses mistrust among the members of civil society. Nevertheless, online space remains vulnerable to hostile interference.

Telegram represents one of the biggest challenges to information security of Ukraine. According to the results of our research, this messenger is the most popular source of information for our civil society. First of all, it bears remembering that Telegram is closely connected with Russian oligarchs and security agencies. Pavel Durov, who is the founder of Telegram and social media company VKontakte, used to be in close coordination with the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation.

Secondly, it is relatively easy to gain access to private correspondence in Telegram. Other messengers (such as WhatsApp and Signal) have built-in end-to-end encryption modules (meaning that private messages can be read only by senders and recipients, while the third parties will see them only as a meaningless mixture of characters).

Furthermore, Telegram stores large amount of user data (contact list, device type, IP address), which is not anonymized and can be used for tracking purposes.

Telegram is used as one of the main platforms for spreading disinformation in Ukraine. By contrast to other social media companies (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), Telegram doesn’t implement any content moderation policies. This means that Telegram users can sell weapons or post a video of murder of Ukrainian military on this platform, should they wish to do so.

Finally, it is worth reminding that Telegram is not blocked in Russia. In fact, Telegram serves as common information space for Russians and Ukrainians, and the Russian Federation is actively using this space to influence the minds and opinions of Ukrainian users.